FREIGHT CAR KITS- I MISS 'EM!!!

[Anonymous]

I love building Proto 2000 and intermountain kits, and the are hard to come by these days, due to slowed production. DARN![xx(]

[Anonymous]

I love em both if you need to build a train fast get rtr, but if ya wanna just sit down and enjoy yourself grab a kit and a coke and go to work.

[Anonymous]

I like 'em both.

[Texas Zepher]

Ok Proto 2000 kit builders give me a hint. How do you get them glued properly without messing up that light weight paint they put on some of the parts.

Specifically I have been working on the 54' PS covered hoppers. Since they painted the parts on the sprues I instantly have "white" spots where they were cut off. But, I have not found a way to get enough glue onto many of the parts without messing up the paint. It seems to catch the vapors of the glue and disolve. The structural frames that go between the bottom of hoppers are particularly trouble some. Do others just not glue them? What about all the tiny pins on the brake lines and linkage. I've used a 000 brush and still can't keep the glue from spreading beyond its designated location, and mussing up the paint.

[joeyegarner]

I seldom buy RTR I prefer the kitts. I spend a lot of my time looking for kits on ebay. It's true alot of the RTR have great detail and they save you time but I enjoy putting them together. Anyone can buy a great looking model but can you build one?????? I get more pleasure from building my kits. Joey

[tstage]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Texas Zepher

Ok Proto 2000 kit builders give me a hint. How do you get them glued properly without messing up that light weight paint they put on some of the parts...Since they painted the parts on the sprues I instantly have "white" spots where they were cut off.

TZ,

I have two suggestions for you. Purchase yourself a GOOD pair of flush-cutting wire cutters. Linstrom makes some and you can buy them from places like TechniTool. They aren't going to be cheap ($40-50) but they do a GREAT job of nipping off parts and/or cleaning up any stray nibs.

The other suggestion is - for those really hard to get at pieces - use a SHARP X-acto knife on a hard surface - e.g. like a piece of wood. The blade HAS to be sharp or else you will stress (leave a white spot) in the plastic piece you are cutting.

QUOTE: Originally posted by Texas Zepher
What about all the tiny pins on the brake lines and linkage.

Assuming you are using liquid glue like Testors for adding your brake lines and linkage, use your small 000 bru***o put the liquid glue in the hole, rather than your part. Once you've done that, then press the nibs of your piece into the holes.

Tom

[rexhea]

Have you tried the Branchline boxcar and passenger car kits? Yardmaster for the beginners and Blueprint for the more advanced. They may not be master craftsman level, but they are nice looking and they make a good selection.

REX

[tstage]

I, too, am disappointed that more and more kit companies are going RTR. I'm glad that Accurail hasn't gone that direction yet.

The underneath brake lines of the Accurail kits aren't the quality of a Branchline (Blueprint series) and Proto 2000 but they're good. However, the quality and detail of their car bodies is very good. Their wooden or wood-end boxcars are, IMHO, exceptionally good. At $8-10 a car kit, I have a yard full of them. [:)]

Tom

[rolleiman]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Texas Zepher

Ok Proto 2000 kit builders give me a hint. How do you get them glued properly without messing up that light weight paint they put on some of the parts.

Specifically I have been working on the 54' PS covered hoppers. Since they painted the parts on the sprues I instantly have "white" spots where they were cut off. But, I have not found a way to get enough glue onto many of the parts without messing up the paint. It seems to catch the vapors of the glue and disolve. The structural frames that go between the bottom of hoppers are particularly trouble some. Do others just not glue them? What about all the tiny pins on the brake lines and linkage. I've used a 000 brush and still can't keep the glue from spreading beyond its designated location, and mussing up the paint.

I didn't vote on the poll, don't care one way or another as I won't be buying a lot anymore anyway..

To answer This question, in addition to the answer already given...

PBL use to make a flush cutter that looks like a tweezer. Soon after they began producing them (in limited run [xx(]) several others came out with them as well. I think Micro-mart still carries them for about $15.. They are Fantastic for removing the piping lines from the sprues. As well as the grabs and other little micro parts. What you have to do to ease assembly is drill out all the little holes, with a #76 bit if I remember correctly. They are half full of paint or some other substance which, as you know, makes putting them together nearly impossible without fudging something up. Place the grabs in the holes, lightly hold them on while hitting the Inside with a little bit of plastic solvent. Personally, I've never cared for the plastruct or tennax solvents. I use the one that is made on the brand name Ambroid pro-weld. http://walthers.com/exec/productinfo/130-110 .. Best stuff I've ever used. You want to be careful not to put too much on because it WILL wick out of the hole, hit your finger and leave a finger print on whatever you are touching. Only a drop is needed for each hole.. I actually cut more than half the bristols off of the brush and shape it to a point so I can get just a little drop. I haven't used model cement or glue since I discovered this stuff. The only other adhesive I ever use regularly, other than wood glue, is epoxy and that's for cast resin buildings (ss ltd, etc). One of the few endorsements you'll get from me.

Another little gluing tip.. Works great for ACC and the like as well as solvents.. Take a sewing needle and stick the point into a stick. I use a 1/4" wood dowel. File the top of the needle eye so what you have left is a U shape. The smaller the U, the smaller the amount of liquid you can grab. Works for gluing as well as an oil applicator to keep those steamers in top shape.
Good luck
Jeff
[swg]

[mcouvillion]

I've still got a small hobby shop's worth of stock kits to build. I just haven't had the time. I have done them assembly line style, once building ninety-six (96) Model Diecasting Sabine River and Northern 50' boxcars - for the Sabine River and Northern! I was so sick of looking at kits! I do enjoy assembling a well-designed kit, though.

For the guys concerned about cutting off sprues and gluing pieces together, get a good sprue cutter. It is not expensive, about the size of a large pair of tweezers, and they work great, especially for tiny parts. Close-cutting diagonal pliers are a bit of overkill. Don't use modelers cement (air plane glue), use the Testors Solvent glue. It actually "melts" the plastic a bit and forms a better bond. Wipe most of the excess from the brush on the bottom of the cap, or use a tiny brush for really close quarter work. I find that if I gently scrape the paint off the edge to be joined before touching it to the solvent, it works a whole lot better. Apply solvent to both surfaces before joining them together. You can add solvent from the back side of the joint with a small brush. I practically never use modelers cement any more.

Good luck,

Mark C.

[UP Deano]

rexhea and tstage are on the mark! if you want GOOD QUALITY kits, pretty easy to find, go with Accurail for easy kits, and Branchline for a little harder to build ones.[;)] [:D]

[espeefoamer]

I like to see my stuff run immediately.I consider Athearn Blue Box as a craftsmans kit[;)]!

[tstage]

A couple of other items of necessity I failed to mention for successfully installing small or fragile parts: a GOOD pair of needle-nose and flat tweezers. It will help you keep your fingers from smearing any excess solvent glue onto your model. I use the bottom (hinged) end of my tweezers almost as much as much as the business end to press pieces into place.

Tom

[SP9811]

I miss the old N scale Kadee/Microtrains kits, and the MDC kits. You can still sometimes find the MDC kits at shows, but its getting harder and harder.

[Anonymous]

I run counter to the sprue nipper idea. I have assembled lots of P2K (oil cars, Stock cars, Hoppers) and intermountain red caboose etc. with all the fine details we are talking about. I have found that the sprue cutters will often break small parts because there often isn't space for them in the sprue. The cutter needs a certain amount of room to work, if the part is attached in several places often cutting in one spot will bend or break the part because the cutter blde width moves the part. If the part is attached in one spot, then they work fine.

The other problem with sprue cutters is they leave a nib on the part. A no. 11 exacto blade is cleaner. I find that most parts are broken by not supporting the part whle cutting it out.. On fine parts, the thickness of the sprue holds the part off of the cutting surface by about a 1/16". It snaps when the downward pressure of the blade pushes on it and it is unsupported...A corner of a block of wood placed directly under the part will solve this problem and give you clean cuts.

My recommendation for tools is a strong light, an optivisor and a very sharp (new) no. 11 blade.

[Anonymous]

I use sprue nippers , but for very fine cuts, get some double edged razor blades, tape off one side, about three layers of masking tape will do, and use them, they thinner than # 11 exacto and thinner than single edged blades. Lightly drag blade across sprues to cut and there's no flex to brake thinner parts, like brake lines on intermountain and branchline kits.